The dialogue between the government and the opposition on election conditions achieved only partial success: two of the three opposition demands were met. She is now threatening to boycott the elections. The meeting between the authorities and the opposition regarding the improvement of election conditions ended with only partial success. The opposition presented three demands, of which the government accepted two, while the third was rejected. Requests for revision of voter lists and equal access to Radio Television of Serbia were accepted, but the request to hold Belgrade and local elections on the same day was rejected.
The President of the Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, explaining the rejection of that request, stated that "it is profoundly undemocratic, and that way someone's mandate is shortened". The opposition says that in this way manipulation of changes of residence would be reduced, but it is also pointed out that the entire series of extraordinary elections in Serbia also represented a shortening of the mandate.
A possible solution to the problem is the amendment of the Law on Local Elections, which would have to take place by April 18, but at least for now it seems that the government has no intention of making that concession in order for the Belgrade and local elections to be held on June 2. The Belgrade elections are officially scheduled for June 2.
Political parties change institutions
Bojan Klačar from the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) tells DW that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) entered this dialogue "in order to make some concessions, but at the same time not to jeopardize its political position." The opposition wanted all their demands to be met, in order to put additional pressure on the government, and that is why this dialogue was unsuccessful. But as long as there is a possibility to change something by amending the law, we will have hope that they will also fulfill that third requirement", believes Klačar.
I see the dialogue as an attempt by two parties, in a system where institutions have failed, for political parties to take over the role of state bodies, Zoran Gavrilović, from the Bureau of Social Research (BIRODI), points out for DW. "These topics should be dealt with by the Republic Election Commission (REC), the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (REM). In that situation, where there is no rule of law, conflicts become more and more certain. Therefore, we have come to a situation where we are now negotiating the application of the law, which is actually the worst of all," our interlocutor draws attention.
Shortening the mandate is not new
Ana Brnabić's argument that moving the date of local elections is an undemocratic act unprecedented in the history of Serbia is not very convincing for our interlocutors. As Bojan Klačar points out, "this is a violation of some practices and procedures, but it is also a fact that during the SNS, but also before it, there was a legal solution that could solve the problem. I think that the SNS, above all, is not ready to make any concession here in order not to show weakness", Klačar assesses for DW.
Zoran Gavrilović reminds that "we had, not only the shortening of the mandate of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, but that shortening was announced by an unauthorized person, and that was the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić. The fate of the government is decided by the parliament. We simply already have an illegal structure. Insisting on respect for the law is a good thing, but Serbia is in a state of emergency due to irregularities in the elections. "Instead of finding a legal solution, we are now talking about legality, and we forget that a large number of municipal presidents shortened their mandate only at the behest of party member Aleksandar Vučić," Gavrilović points out.
Application of recommendations, then elections
Part of the opposition that participated in the negotiations is already announcing a boycott of the elections if all their demands are not met. They believe that the government clearly does not want fair elections and intends to influence the outcome of the election by moving voters and other manipulations.
The leader of the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), Dragan Đilas, declares that "the elections in Belgrade will not be held on June 2. It is not possible to first call for elections and then implement the ODIHR recommendations. First, the implementation of those recommendations, then the elections - and for us from the opposition, those elections do not exist," said Đilas. Therefore, pressure on the authorities to postpone the elections to autumn is mentioned as one of the options.
However, Bojan Klačar thinks that "both sides have reasons for this dialogue to end successfully." "SNS would not agree with a boycott of a large part of the opposition, because it would cause serious damage to its reputation. But, at the same time, the boycott would probably bring the opposition people's dissatisfaction at the bar and the devastation of the party's infrastructure. The opposition is now in a better situation as far as the boycott is concerned, because it is more present in the republican parliament," notes Klačar.
RTS - has always remained the same
When it comes to the accepted demands of the opposition regarding revision of the voter list and equal access to the RTS, there are also numerous doubts. What the revision of the voter list will mean in practice and how attendance at RTS will be measured, remains unclear. The unmistakable impression is that the authorities, as usual, are trying to solve potential problems by hastily organizing elections, promising the impossible and accepting everything only formally, without the intention of actually fulfilling anything.
The monitoring carried out after the election shows that RTS continued with the same practice, emphasizes Zoran Gavrilović: "The government, the president and the ruling parties are 14 times more represented than the opposition. I just don't believe that RTS will change without changes in REM. As for the inspection of the voter list, it is stated that the government can show one voter list, and then change it one weekend before the election. The key thing here is the lack of trust, and that's why I think that the European Union must participate and mediate in the final agreement between the government and the opposition," Gavrilović assesses.
Bojan Klačar notes that "a valid revision of the voter list requires resources, people and time. It requires a certain methodology, which we still do not know. Then, we don't even know what balanced RTS reporting means, because RTS didn't even participate in these negotiations. I don't think we will know until the election day whether certain recommendations of the ODIHR have been fulfilled", concludes the executive director of CeSID.
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